The Love of the Shikon Miko
by Crescent Moon Dreams
Summary: Returning to Inuyasha through the well, after the defeat of Naraku, he and Kagome are mated. However, not all is well with the young couple; and now, after many years, Kikyo has, again, returned! And what has become of poor, young Rin?
1. Chapter 1: A Perplexing Possession

Author's note: This is my first shot at writing a fanfic. I've been toying with the idea

For a long time now. I'm finally doing it, but I need help with what to call this story. I

welcome any input you guys can give me:) Thank you so much and please read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own the original Inuyasha story, or any of the original

characters.

Chapter one: A Perplexing Possession

Kagome was done. After seeing her beloved Inuyasha run after Kikyo,yet again, and then having the gall to foam at the mouth because Kagome wanted just a little comfort from her married and fully committed, though admittedly, lecherous friend, Miroku- and no, she did NOT want to sleep with him- Kagome was run hard and dry. Hard from her constantly squelched emotions, dry from all the tears that she had shed over the years, and there were many. Many years AND tears. After she came back through the well the last time, and decided to sacrifice ever seeing her family again, for Inuyasha's sake, and he chooses to treat her this way? No, she didn't think so. She's tired and weary of all the sacrifices she has made. She's sacrificed her dignity, her sense of self worth, her pride, and most of all, her time and youth. Though she knows she would still be considered young, in her original time. But that is not the case here. Now, in the warring feudal states, she is considered old. None of that 30-is-the-new-20 crap; she is "old". And the icing on the cake: Kikyo isn't evensupposed to be alive. After the last, and supposedly, FINAL time that she died, she came back- again!

It would seem that fate had one final, cruel joke to play on the ever faithful, but too naive and trusting, miko.

How was it even possible? she questioned. There was no witch around, educated and powerful enough, to perform that amazing and terrible feat. Kagome and the others would've blamed Naraku, but he was gone. Others in the village of Edo, who were unfortunate enough to find out, think that Kaede inadvertently summoned her, and possessed her in Rin's now fully grown, and still innocent, body, upon her slow and painful death.

Kaede became sick, shortly after Rin began her womanhood. She was only 11, though nearly 12. But due to her weight, Kagome had explained, her first menstruation was light and short, and she did not menstruate again, until she was 13. Shortly thereafter, Kaede fell ill.

But in regards to the villagers' beliefs that the old miko had unintentionally summoned her former sister? That was another story, in and of itself.

Though everyone chalked up Kaede's sudden and terrible illness to the normal result of being old and her time, Kagome strongly suspected cancer. She'd seen it enough in her own time, to recognize the signs, anyway. What type, of course she couldn't rightly say, but it was definitely cancer. And she had no doubt that it was very advanced at that point, as poor Kaede writhed in agony for several weeks, before finally succumbing. Towards the very end, she kept mumbling and chanting Kikyo's name, which although highly circumstantial, was the villagers' only answer for how Kikyo suddenly showed up, the very next morning, and Rin was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Oh, they looked. They even sent an extremely reluctant Inuyasha to run out and seek his ice prick of an older brother, to see if Rin was with him. Alas, she was not. Sesshoumaru had not seen, nor heard, from his former ward, since the last time he visited her, the year before. Sesshoumaru made it a point to come and see how she was faring, every spring. He would not stay long; duty in the West calls, after all.

But unbeknownst to all, except for Kagome and Kaede, before she died, he stayed nearby, for a night, before leaving. They refused to speculate about it, of course; if it wasn't to reassure himself that Rin was indeed safe, then they knew that he had his reasons.

But when Inuyasha returned and confirmed to his former InuTachi that Rin was, indeed, truly missing, everyone's seemingly ridiculous belief that Kikyo had indeed possessed the young, little woman's body, became solidified. Kagome remained unconvinced. Kagome didn't know what had become of the young, former miko-in-training, but she refused to believe that Kikyo had taken control of her body.

It wasn't because she had the overwhelming urge to exorcise Kikyo straight to HELL; she knew that despite how unbelievably angry she was over this supremely unfortunate- and completely unfair- turn of events was, that she found that she STILL did not have the heart to do what the rest of the people, save Inuyasha, believe needed to be done. It wasn't even because she still felt compassion for Inuyasha's apparently still, unfinished feelings for her. No, she was DEFINITELY done with that BS. What little amount of compassion she had left for the former, unfortunate miko and her former lover, flew away with her soul, the last time that she died. She had barely hung on to it, as it was. Only her love for Inuyasha, and her determination to see Naraku destroyed, and the shikon jewel forever banished from the world, had kept it alive. Kikyo HAD been a tremendous help to them, after all. She felt that she owed her that, and Inuyasha also, for everything that he had suffered, trying to right the wrong that he felt that he was responsible for, concerning Kikyo.

No, Kagome did not believe that Kikyo had possessed Rin for one, very simple reason: She could not SEE Rin. Like everyone else around her, she could only see Kikyo. Kagome was absolutely certain, both due to her status as a very powerful miko, and a very close friend of Rin's, that her eyes would NOT be fooled by Kikyo's image. And it was POWERFUL. Too powerful to be any typical spiritual possession. Seeing a passed soul as a full, corporeal being in possession of another, still living person, was extremely rare. Kagome knew this. She also knew that monks and mikos of her caliber were the only ones capable of seeing the original person through the possession, and she could not. Forget Miroku; unlike Kagome's mating, Miroku lost his powers, after wedding Sango. He wasn't nearly as powerful to begin with, like Kagome. Kagome's heart, as well as her body, was always pure, unlike Miroku's. Oh, don't get me wrong, he was a good man; still is, but because of his constant, lecherous desires, he was not half as powerful as he could've been, if he had been pure. And definitely nowhere near Kagome's purity, that's for sure.

So, in conclusion, was this: Number one, Kikyo was back. She was in possession of SOMEONE'S body; of that, Kagome had no doubt. Number two, Rin was missing. What could've become of her? Kagome was determined to find out.


	2. Chapter 2: On the Hunt

Okay, here's my second chapter:) Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own the original Inuyasha story or the original

Inuyasha characters.

P.S. A shout out to MissKatt18 for giving me my very first review!

I greatly appreciate all your valuable feedback:) You're going to be a

tremendous amount of help to me, and I thank you from the bottom of my

heart ㈏6 Thanks girl, you ROCK!

Oh, and I'm dedicating this chapter to you;)

Chapter 2. On the Hunt

Inuyasha, the gang, and all the male villagers went on an official search party, to try and find her. After 2 days and nights of scouring the village, nearby woods, and the neighboring villages, they feared the worst. They thought they would eventually find her body, or whatever was left of it. But finally, after nearly a week of thorough combing, and Sesshoumaru unexpectedly turning up saying that he could find no trace of her as well, they gave up and headed back to Edo. To everyone's shock, and Inuyasha's dismay, Sesshoumaru went with them. It seems that he overheard some of the villagers' gossip about Kikyo's supposed possession of Rin's body, and he decided to confirm or dispel this theory, for himself. Kagome was so distracted by her own grief and confusion over the sudden and mysterious disappearance of her dear friend, that it made her almost oblivious to this fact. It was there, in the back of her subconscious; she was still a miko, after all. That fact had not changed, or even altered, despite her mated status. Though everyone was completely baffled and mystified, at first, by this, it was easily explained why, by the old and wise Kaede, before she fell ill. The women in the village looked at Miroku and snickered, which he took in oblivious, blissful ignorance; he couldn't be bothered to be convinced of how much of the pathetic lecher that he still was.

But she ignored the agitated, yet still, tightly controlled aura that Sesshoumaru radiated, as she knew well, by now, that he was mostly no threat. As long as Inuyasha didn't try to start anything with him, that is.

She didn't fully come back to her senses, until she suddenly, and rather violently, slammed into the tall and imposing daiyoukai, upon trying to reenter her hut. She was so lost in her own thoughts about Rin, what could've happened to her, and unfortunately, reluctantly reconsidering the once thought ludicrous idea that she had been possessed by Kikyo, that she did not hear Inuyasha yelling at her to try and warn her that he was headed her way. She even failed to hear Sesshoumaru himself, addressing her, "Miko", just a few seconds prior to when he abruptly zoomed in front of her, causing her to collide with his person. But she was paying attention now, that was for sure.

"Uhhhhh...sorry, big brother, I was totally not paying attention, I was totally lost in my own mind. But I'm paying attention now, what can I do for you?", she managed to stutter out, before quickly dipping into a deep, but brief bow. Sesshoumaru made the briefest, but most agitated glare at her, resisting the urge to bare his fangs at her unwelcome and unworthy familiarity with him. Yes, she was technically his sister, now that he and the worthless half breed were mated, but that made no difference to him. He still hated his half brother, though he did admit to himself, begrudgingly, that he held a certain respect for the miko that he had mated. He would never admit it to anyone- not even her- that her immense amount of compassion, and ever growing powers, was dually attractive to him. Once upon a time, he NEVER would have considered regarding a human with any kind of positive regard, save his ward. But unbeknownst to him, over the last several years, something in him had begun to grow, for the young, obnoxious miko. Yes, he still regarded her as such. Kagome had actually matured greatly, over the last few years, but Sesshoumaru did not visit Edo for any longer than an hour or two every year, so he did not know this. Kagome was seldom brash at all, except towards Inuyasha, when he deserved it.

Even so, Kagome found herself retreating back into old habits, since she was caught completely off guard. She would recover quickly, though, as the next words made their way out of Sesshoumaru's mouth: "Miko, you will explain to this Sesshoumaru how this happened." Kagome straightened up immediately, calmly composed herself, and with the utmost care and respect, answered, " I am not sure that I understand, Lord Sesshoumaru. How what happened?" Sesshoumaru took a moment, swept his eyes over here aura, and inhaled her scent. Hmmm, she seems to have learned some manners finally, in the intervening years, he thought to himself. With that thought in mind, he replied, "How did a dead priestess come to possess this Rin's body?" Kagome's mouth fell open, right before she hit the ground.


End file.
